Outlining your essay is the best step before you actually start writing. Outline will serve you as a compass as proceed in your essay. A well-arranged outline will help you to stick to the point as you write.

However, you should view your outline as a working flexible plan rather than a fixed document. You are free to change it when it is necessary.

Your outline should contain all the main points of your essay. Every new paragraph is devoted to one of these points. The outline opens up with an introduction presenting a thesis statement of the essay. Body paragraphs come after intro. Classify the points depending on their significance in the essay. Related ideas may come under common headings and you should organize them logically.

Your outline is like a web, where all the points are interrelated and connected with each other. There is no place for irrelevant information in your outline. Make sure every point is pertinent to your thesis.

View a structure of a sample outline:

I. Introduction

Intro sentences

Thesis

Present supporting ideas ( not necessary)

II. Body

First supporting idea

Transition, topic sentence (introduces the subject of the paragraph)

Discussion, evidence, and analysis

Conclusion (not necessary)

Second supporting idea

Transition, topic sentence (introduces the subject of the paragraph)

Discussion, evidence, and analysis

Conclusion (not necessary)

Third supporting idea

Transition, topic sentence (introduces the subject of the paragraph)

Discussion, evidence, and analysis

Conclusion (not necessary)

III. Conclusion

Transition

Summary of the main points

Final statement provoking further consideration/ call for action (not necessary)